Blake Peters made 5 3-pointers in the second one half of and the No. 15 seeded Princeton stunned some other energy convention workforce to reach the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals for the primary time in 56 years through beating No. 7 seed Missouri 78-63 on Saturday.
As the general minute ticked off the clock, the Princeton fanatics began chanting “Sweet 16! Sweet 16!” and trainer Mitch Henderson cleared the bench with the victory simply in hand.
This dissatisfied used to be no small-school fluke in opposition to a extra heralded workforce. It used to be a totally dominating efficiency that despatched Princeton to a spot it hadn’t been in additional than a half-century.
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“The world looks at us as two upsets,” ahead Tosan Evbuomwan mentioned. “But I feel like we’re supposed to be here. We have a lot of confidence in one another, what we’re doing. There’s definitely no letup with this group.”
Princeton (23-8) adopted up a first-round win over Pac-12 match champion Arizona through overwhelming Missouri (25-10) of the Southeastern Conference from the beginning.
The Ivy League college identified for giving powerhouses scares and from time to time pulling off upsets a technology in the past has reached the around of 16 for the primary time since 1967, when handiest 23 groups even made the match.
“I have no words for you,” Peters mentioned. “We have such an unbelievable section (of fans) here. I have the best teammates in the world. I love each and every one of them. when we go out and believe in each other, anything is possible. I know it’s cliche, but anything is possible.”
Princeton will play the winner of Sunday’s recreation between Baylor and Creighton within the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday night time.
The Tigers would be the 2nd Ivy League college to make the Sweet 16 up to now 43 tournaments, becoming a member of Cornell in 2010. No workforce from the academically prestigious league that does not give athletic scholarships has long gone additional since Penn made the Final Four in 1979.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing deep into the tournament,” mentioned Henderson, a participant on Princeton’s groups in 1996 and ’98 that gained first-round video games. “As a player, got to the second round a couple times. Never got beyond it.”
This marks the 3rd instantly yr a workforce seeded fifteenth made it to the Sweet 16, following Oral Roberts in 2021 and fellow New Jersey college Saint Peter’s ultimate yr. The handiest different time a 15 seed made it this some distance got here in 2013 when Florida Gulf Coast did it.
Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 22 issues and Peters added 17.
DeAndre Gholston scored 19 issues and Noah Carter added 14 for Missouri, which used to be searching for its first berth within the Sweet 16 since 2009.
“We were able to get the lead one time,” trainer Dennis Gates mentioned. “We held the lead for 30 seconds in the entire game. Every time we got the lead or when they had the lead, we cut it to six, they came back down and did what a good team would do: Make a shot or make a play.”
Princeton confirmed no indicators of being outclassed in opposition to some other energy convention workforce, controlling the play from the beginning. Keeshawn Kellman had two dunks and a blocked shot in a span of 16 seconds halfway throughout the half of.
Princeton constructed the lead to 10 issues on a nook 3 through Zach Martini and went up 33-19 on a power through Evbuomwan.
Missouri spoke back through scoring the general seven issues of the half of to move into the damage down seven.
Every time Missouri threatened early in the second one half of, Princeton had a solution with Peters hitting 5 3-pointers. The fourth gave Princeton a 62-43 lead and Missouri by no means threatened after that.
“Blake Peters has been making shots coming off the bench for us for weeks,” Henderson mentioned. “This is a very, very confident group. We are so thrilled to be going to the Sweet 16. It is an absolute pleasure being around these guys. They just grit their teeth and they do it.”
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